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Saturday, August 20, 2011

Lightning Zigzags {tutorial}

Okay so here it is--my very first tutorial. Try not to judge me too harshly.

Ever since I made my round 11 quilt for the Doll Quilt Swap I've had quite a few people as me for a tutorial or pattern for it. Well I didn't have one--I just figured it out on the fly. But I thought this might be a good way for me to cut my teeth as far as tutorials go, so here you have it.

First of all some notes. All seams are 1/4". This tutorial is for a doll-sized quilt since most inquiries were about that size, but it could easily be translated into bigger blocks for a real quilt. Okay, here we go!

Okay, now you need to cut your fabric. You will need to cut your background fabric into 42 3.5" squares. Next, cut the zig-zag fabric into 2" strips. I used Kona Ash for the background and some Good Folks scraps I've been hoarding for awhile now. The strips were various lengths but I found I didn't need much--a fat quarter of each fabric will leave you with LOTS of extra fabric.

All cut out? Good. You're ready to sew. Lay a strip of patterned fabric across the background fabric at a diagonal. The exact angle isn't important, especially if you're going for a wonky look.

Set your machine for a quarter inch stitch, and line your presser foot up with the edge of the patterned fabric. Sew, sew, sew.

Flip the fabric over and press. Note--you will need to press the seams so that the strip is folded over, not the backing. You will need the square to stay square for a little while longer.

See what I mean about the square? Okay good. Now keep it flipped over.

Now it's time to trim the excess strip fabric away. Using the square as the template, cut along the edges.

Flip it over and check it out!!

Sorry. I feel like such a tease now. But you're really almost done! Flip the strip back over so it's like it was when you first sewed it on...

...and do what the picture tells you to.

Now, repeat the process 41 more times. This doesn't take as long as you'd think, especially if you chain piece.

All done? Good. You should have some nice little stacks that you can proceed to play with until you find a good layout. Here's mine:

Now, about that layout. I'm sure you can figure it out by trial and error, but here's the pattern I used to get that lightning effect:

Got it? Now you're ready to sew it all together, and you end up with this:

Woop, woop, my friend!! I LOVED this pattern when you did it for DQS and cannae wait for a shot! Great tute (although are you really going to make me work out how big it is finished by myself? You horror!)

Hi Jen, Great quilt and tute. do you think this could be done as a stack and slash with an alternate colourway quilt being made? (white zigzags instead of coloured?) Two for the price of one! I've posted your tute on my tutes page. :) www.quokkaquilts.blogspot.com cheersLaura

I just found your blog site. Don't ask me how. I started out at a blogsite that you can put in your state and find all the bloggers there (that are listed). Somehow, I went to one blogsite, then another, and another, and after about an hour I found you. And I am so grateful to find you. I LOVE, ADORE, ADMIRE your zigzag quilt. It's so simple but looks amazing. Thank you for the step by step instructions (including the pics which I need because I am visual) so I can now make one of my own.

I like this so much I've been spending the first few days of the new year working on one of my own in shades of gray and orange. I'll link back to you when I post the finished quilt on my own blog. Thank you so much for sharing, what a great tutorial!

Thank you for this gorgeous tute - I adore the finished top!!! (and I am now having to physically restrain myself from going and starting one of my own right.this.instant. It's 1am here, and my kids are anti-sleeping in at the moment, even if it is school holidays, ha!)Thanks again!

I am in need of a quilt pattern for a baby boy who isn't born yet but due in February 2012. I have the "fabric" that consists of old flannel pajamas in various patterns that belong to the Grandma to be. She only wants something big enough that the baby(when he's older of course) can drag around with him. This pattern looks fun and relatively easy. Do you think this would be fun and simple enough for a relatively new quilter? I'd greatly appreciate the feedback!

Your tutorial was very clear. However, my layout differs from yours as I was consistent with my wide end/narrow end up/down, etc on each row, etc. Threw me for a loop when I came back and looked at your finished layout! LOL!

Cute quilt! AND you did an excellent job on the tutorial! I'm thinking it may can be done using the printed fabric in place of the white and the white for the lightening. You know anything goes when your quilting.

The quilt is adorable and your instructions are very clear. Congratulations on your first tutorial. But one question: Your instructions say to cut your squares 3.5" but your pictures where the squares are lying on a cutting mat show them to be 3" Did you make two different size quilts?

Finally gotten to point where I can quilt again. I plan to make single bed quilts with this great pattern. Has anyone made these blocks for a bed quilt? If someone else has figured the size if the print piece? and how much fabric is needed? Susan

I just saw your fantastic tute and am going to make one for the charity treasure chest at mu lqs. They give them to a charity that has a Christmas party for underpriveledged children every year. I try to make seversl doll quilts and turn them in at the beginning of December. Looks like a fun and eat project and I have collected a lot of scraps so I will have a nice varitety to work with. Thank you and Happy 2014.

I am thrilled with this pattern. I love that each strip is not exact. I am making a doll quilt for my granddaughter and one for her bed too. I think I will use 6 inch squares for that. Good tutorial, directions and pictures.